Martha Washington

Status

Not on view

Label Text

This profile portrait of Martha Washington was inspired by an original pastel by James Sharples, the renowned British pastellist, for whom the President sat at least once. This work and its pendant, of George Washington, were probably produced in the late 19th century, most likely using Sharples copies now owned by the Bristol Art Gallery as a source. Perhaps reflecting later tastes, the artist who produced the oils simplified the Sharples backgrounds, darkened their palette, and enlarged the images.

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Datec. 1840-1882

After James Sharples (English, 1751/2 - 1811)

Subject Martha Washington (American, 1731 - 1802)

Geography Possibly made - England

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall (Framed: H x W): 30 in. x 25 in. (76.2 cm x 63.5 cm)

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of the Connoisseur Society of Mount Vernon, 2014

Object numberM-5363/A-B

DescriptionBust-length, profile portrait of Martha Washington, facing proper left, with shoulders very slightly turned proper right. The portrait is lit from the proper left. Mrs. Washington is shown with blue eyes, fair skin, and cheeks and lips in rose tones. She is attired in a black silk dress, its neckline covered by a large gray-white neckerchief or fichu. Her gray hair is just visible at the forehead under a white day cap with a high crown, blue-and-white striped satin ribbon trim, and two layers of ruffles.

The background is plain and dark, in shades of deep brown, with an area of red at the proper right edge from the top corner to the level of her neck.

When it entered the collection, the portrait was housed in a complex late-19th century frame, consisting of two gilt wood moldings separated by a red velvet liner and surmounted by a spread-winged eagle. It has since been reframed in a new gilt wood frame, in period style.
Published ReferencesKatherine McCook Knox, The Sharples (New York: Kennedy Graphics, Inc., 1972), 63-65.
Gustavus A. Eisen, Portraits of Washington, (New York: Robert Hamilton & Associates, 1932), 2: 527, 531. (Perhaps referring to this work as “The Walker-Cary Oil.”)

John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas (Philadelphia, 1931), 397-398.

John Hill Morgan, “The Truth and George Washington,” Antiques, 6: No. 1 (July 1924), 13- 14.

George H. Sargent, “The Portraiture of Our First President,” Antiques, 5: No. 2 (February 1924).

Kate Sanborn, “Coming to Washington: Some Rare and Valuable Portraits to be Offered to the Government,” Washington Post, November 15, 1886. [Not located]

“The Historical Society: The Alleged Sharples Portraits of Washington--Significant Report of a Committee, Published by a Vote of the Society,” Boston Post, January 14, 1887.

James Walter, Memorials of Washington and of Mary, His Mother, and Martha, his Wife, From Letters and Papers of Robet Cary and James Sharples. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887).

James Walter, History and Descriptive Details of Middleton's Portraits of Mary, the Mother of Washington and Mary Phillipse (Washington's Early Love), Also of the Sharples Portraits of Washington and Martha, his Wife. (Frank Wood: Boston, 1886).

“Portraits of the Washingtons,” Boston Daily Globe, May 3, 1882, 3.

E.B. Johnston, Original Portraits of Washington (J.R. Osgood and Co: Boston, 1882), 132.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Portraits of Washington (exhibition catalogue) (Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, 1882), cat. 249.

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